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I was wearing mostly blues and greens in June, but I had a couple of extras that I didn’t get the chance to try; this is one of them. Illamasqua Cameo is a bold cornflower blue creme:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well, going on smoothly in two coats, with touchups in between. This is a gorgeous shade of blue! It looks soft and slightly dusty, since cornflower blue just has that quality to it, but it looks bold at the same time, since it’s so highly pigmented. I can’t even remember when I bought this, but I’m pretty sure it was cold outside. I’m not sure if this even belongs to a seasonal collection (this was a Sephora exclusive but now it’s also sold through Illamasqua’s website), but it seems perfect to wear now. The color is so calming; it makes me think of warm, breezy summer days (Summer isn’t even over yet and I’m already feeling nostalgic about it!) I paired this with Chanel Mistral on my toes.

Most of the blues and greens I’ve tried so far this month have been really spring/summer-appropriate shades, so I’m trying one that’s a little unexpected for the season. Illamasqua Venous (Spring 2013) is a medium greenish teal creme:

Picture taken in weak sunlight (Please pardon the injury! I hope it heals fast so it won’t appear in many more of my NOTDs.) The formula was smooth and applied well in two coats. At first this struck me as a more fall-appropriate shade, since it wasn’t light and bright like the polishes I’ve been wearing recently. The more I look at it, though, the more I see it as spring-appropriate. It’s dusty, but not very muted. It’s kind of like a springy version of Essie School of Hard Rocks (both remind me of chalkboards.) It’s not the first shade I picture when I think of teal, but it just fits under that category, as one that has more green than blue. The name intrigues me; I normally wouldn’t think of this as the color of veins, but when I looked at my wrist, the shade seems like a match! I paired this with OPI Wooden Shoe Like to Know? on my toes.

I did love trying those speckled polishes, and I have even more to try this month, but instead of trying so many glitters in a row, I thought I’d give my nails a break, removal-wise, by throwing some cremes in between. Essie Maximillian Strasse Her (Spring 2013) is a cool, faded sage green creme:

Picture taken in natural light. (My photo makes it look a little mintier than it should; it’s a slightly warmer green in real life.) Because this is a light color, I expected to need three coats for full coverage, but since the formula is nicely thick and pigmented, I only needed two, with some touchups. I like this polish a lot more than I expected to! Apart from the good formula, I love the color as well. It’s a dusty color, but it’s not too greyed. Despite being faded, it still actually looks like a very fresh, springy green. There’s something really calming about this shade, too; I can see it as a color someone would paint their walls with. I also really love the concept behind this collection, that the polish names are inspired by major global shopping destinations. This one is named after Maximilianstraße in Munich. I paired this with OPI Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh? on my toes.

The next speckled polish I had on my list is Illamasqua Scarce (I’mperfection, Spring 2013) a light, dusty pink creme with black hex glitter and fine black glitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. (The sun is washing out the color a bit; it looks a little darker in natural light.) This applied well, needing three coats for full coverage. With this one I did experience some wrinkling at the tips after applying quick-drying topcoat. This is such an intriguing shade of pink! I wouldn’t call it a true pastel because it just doesn’t seem stark or whited-out enough. It definitely doesn’t look like pastel pinks I’ve tried before. It’s a warm shade, and slightly dusty. Even though it’s not a traditional pastel, the black glitter totally makes it look like those speckled candy eggs. I love how sweet it looks! I paired this with Illamasqua Nudge on my toes.

I put this polish on on the first day of spring, while there was still some snow on the ground. OPI I Saw…You Saw…We Saw…Warsaw (Euro Centrale, Spring 2013) is a dark, dusty blue creme:

Picture taken in weak sunlight. This applied well in two coats. It’s refreshing to see a dark blue that isn’t a navy. This one has a great faded quality that makes me think of denim. I guess it’s the dustiness that makes it look more springlike. Although it looks like a worn shade of blue, the color is still strong and solidly pigmented. It looks nice and creamy on the nail. The only thing I don’t like about it is the overly long name! I paired this with Lippmann Waking Up in Vegas on my toes.

After wearing so many dark and vampy colors in a row, I wanted to lighten things up, while still sticking to a fall palette. American Apparel Rose Bowl is a dusty, peachy rose creme:

Picture taken in natural light. The formula was very pigmented and applied well in two coats. I like the color so much more than I was expecting to! It’s probably because it looks so solid and creamy on the nail, due to the high pigmentation. When I look at it, sometimes it looks more pink, other times more peach. Either way, it’s a very soft, pretty color. I actually think it works for both spring and fall; I could’ve seen myself wearing this in March as well, when I tend to use dusty colors. There’s something about it that says “old-fashioned” to me, but not in a bad way, more like in a vintage way. I feel like this would look great on long, pointy-oval nails. I paired this with Essie Chinchilly on my toes.

After wearing a more unusual, avant-garde color for my last mani, I wanted to go for something in the opposite direction and picked a more traditional color. American Apparel Rouge (Fall 2010) is a dusty, deep rose creme:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied smoothly and was very pigmented; I needed two coats for full coverage. This kind of color can be seen as matronly but I was surprised at how much I liked it when I put it on! When I think of a “dusty rose” I normally picture a shade that’s lighter, or one that looks more peachy-pink, but this one has a lovely reddish tone, resulting in an overall darker shade. When I look at this I don’t think old-fashioned; I think retro. For me it conjures up images of ’40s cosmetic ads so I can see why it was named after the makeup (Although the first time I saw this I immediately thought of pink pearl erasers). I paired this with Color Club High Society on my toes.

I only got one other polish from this collection, so after wearing Blue-Ming I figured I should try this right after. Color Club Hydrangea Kiss (Blossoming, Spring 2012) is a dusty cornflower blue creme:

Picture taken in weak sunlight. This applied well; it wasn’t so solidly pigmented so I used three coats for full coverage. This is pretty similar to another polish I tried recently, China Glaze Electric Beat, but this one is a little more blue and a little less greyed. It still has that soft, dusty appearance, but because it’s not so greyed, the color looks fresh at the same time. This one is not just pretty but so aptly named; it really does remind me of hydrangeas, one of my favorite flowers. I paired this with Essie Status Symbol on my toes.

For the next of the blue/green shades from this collection, I have on China Glaze Kinetic Candy (Electropop, Spring 2012), a pale pastel turquoise creme:

Picture taken in sunlight. Although the formula was a little streaky, it applied well, and because of its thickness and high pigmentation, I got full coverage in only two coats. I absolutely love this; it’s so pretty and sweet-looking! It’s a blue-leaning turquoise; I think it has just a drop a green in it that makes it look turquoise and not baby blue. It has a sort of dusty appearance, but at the same time its stark pastel quality makes it look bright. “Stark” and “dusty” seem incongruous but somehow this polish has both qualities. As with other pastels, it really does make me think of candy. I paired this with Essie Lovie Dovie on my toes.

Now that I finally started trying polishes from this collection, I’ll keep it going by trying the ones in the blue/green family this month. China Glaze Electric Beat (Electropop, Spring 2012) is a soft, light cornflower blue creme:

Picture taken in natural light. The formula was nicely thick and pigmented, providing full coverage in two coats. This isn’t a color that comes to mind when I think “electropop,” but its softness is very pretty, giving it a lovely faded look. It’s a dusty shade, but it doesn’t look too greyed, and it’s a relatively light kind of blue, but it’s not too pale. Because of the rich pigmentation, I actually think it’s bright, as far as soft shades go. I paired this with Essie One of a Kind on my toes.